The Girl with the Strawberries
by Lil Angel 927
Summary: What would happen if Katniss never got to volunteer for Prim? How would the Games play out then?


I let my fingers fly over the piano keys, the sound of music filling the house. My nimble fingers press each key delicately, as if pushing them too hard would break them. This is what I've been taught to do all throughout my life: treat things as delicately as possible to keep my image as the polite, delicate girl that could never harm a fly. The image of the girl with the golden curls and bright blue eyes that are the same color as the sky.

I hate it.

All my life I've been surrounded by people from the Capitol who have molded me into the perfect Mayor's daughter, a girl that could fit in perfectly with the Capitol. Each month I get sent in a new wardrobe of clothes that are always "with the current style" of the Capitol that I'm forced to wear. I'm not even allowed to wear one dress more than once.

At least one good thing has come from all of this: they taught me how to play the piano, which I've grown to love. I love the beautiful sound it makes when being played, and how each song, each note, contributes to a story that is being told. Hearing the piano being played makes me giddy with happiness, and it's the perfect way for me to get away from the harsh reality I know where I have to live as a fake.

"Madgie, it's time for you to go to school." My housekeeper, Ruth, poked her head around the entrance to the ballroom that I was playing the piano in. "Don't want to be late! Your lunch is sitting on the counter honey."  
I smiled warmly at her. "Thank you for reminding me and making me my lunch." Ruth smiled back, and with a little nod, walked away to go take care of other things. Ruth had always viewed me as a daughter, as her own daughter had died years back in the Hunger Games. I had always viewed her as my mother, as my biological mother was always bedridden with horrible headaches for almost as long as I can remember.

I can still remember how she was before the headaches overtook her… how close we were. I remember when I was little and didn't have to worry about being watched by everyone, but rather had to focus on what the best way was to have fun with my Mommy. We were running through a big meadow that wasn't too far from our house, and we both fell to the ground, giggling from pure happiness. That day we had a picnic there, and wove bracelets and headbands for each other out of daises. Of course, Mommy's looked better than mine. But that didn't matter. She still put on my badly put together headband and bracelet that I made for her, and told me that I looked beautiful. We stayed there for the whole day, not worrying about how Daddy was hardly ever home anymore because of work things, or how a doctor from the Capitol was coming to look at Mommy to see what was wrong with her head. Instead, we sat there and played until we were too tired to play anymore. She let me play with her hair, and she braided mine, weaving in little daisies into it. We watched the sunset fade over the trees of District Twelve, and laid underneath the stars. She showed me different constellations, and I asked her where she had learned all of them from. I remember as her eyes got all watery as she just gave a quiet, "Just someone I used to know…" and got a sad look on her face. I frowned, not knowing what had upset Mommy. I asked her something else, probably about flowers, and she turned back into her normal self again.

But those days are gone now, as I'm not her little daisy princess anymore, she's not my Mommy, but rather us viewing each other as strangers in our house. I sigh, now saddened by my reminiscing of the past. I push myself up from the piano bench, running up the stairs to go and run a brush through my hair before I left for school.

My room was way over-decorated, courtesy of the Capitol decorators. There's fluffy carpeting everywhere, a big queen sized bed with a piece of sheer fabric draping over it, giving off the illusion of a castle. The walls were at least decorated with one thing I like in mind: blue. I love the color blue, and all shades of it. The designers made my walls look like different shades of blue were morphing into each other, starting from a pale, baby blue, working its way up to a dark blue that reminds me of the sky just before it gets too dark. I love it. It's one of the few things that I actually like that the Capitol did for me.

The bathroom isn't much better; it's far too glamorous for my liking. Except for the bathtub. I _love _the bathtub. It's huge, and it's wonderful for me to have when I'm having a particularly bad day or just want to escape from my duties as the Mayor's daughter. I turn to my vanity mirror and pull my brush off of the bathroom countertop and begin to brush my hair. After I have thoroughly brushed it through, I tie my hair back with a blue ribbon. I apply a light gloss to my lips, as I'm sure the Capitol would kill me if I left the house without at least lip gloss on. I don't know how they would find out that I left without makeup on, but somehow they would. I just know it.

After making sure I looked presentable enough, I grabbed a pair of flimsy sandals and quickly put them on. I ran down the huge staircase that's in our house, wishing once again that I could just slide down the railing. I haven't done it in a while; not since my mom got sick. I remember just sliding down the railing… laughing as I turned my head and saw her sliding down behind me...

_Stop it Madge. You need to focus on school now._ I really needed to stop thinking about her so often. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the lunch that Ruth had so carefully made for me, just like she does every day. I try and help her, but she always declines.

"Oh no dear, you don't need to be working! You just keep those pretty little hands of yours playing the piano. That's what they should be doing: making music, not cleaning up messes."

She would always somehow say no, tell me that there's something else that I need to do. One of these days, I would make Ruth take a day off and relax. Besides, I'm already sixteen. I need to start learning how to take care of a house, how to cook a meal, and what exactly I need to do to take care of a family. At this point in my life, I can't really do anything. If I tried to turn the oven on, I would most likely burn my hand and then burn the house down.

I leave the house and start walking towards school, thinking about the future. I know I'll have to end up marrying someone from town; my father and the Capitol would probably die from the thought of me marrying someone from the Seam. I think my father wants me to marry Peeta, the baker's boy. Sure, Peeta's nice and all, but we're just friends. We've been friends ever since we were really little, telling each other everything. He's told me how he's been in love with Katniss Everdeen, who I consider to be one of my few friends, since both of them were really little. He's the only person that I've told about who I'm in love with and why. We trust each other with everything, and he's the only person that I can go and run to for comfort when something horrible has happened in my life. I'd trust Peeta with my life: but I can't marry him. It just seems _wrong_. But I know that I'll probably end up having to marry him, although that's better than the other options from town. At least I'm friends with him.

The school comes into my sight, and I take a deep breath and plaster on my fake smile. It's the smile that everyone associates me with, although they don't know that it's not my real smile. My fake smile is just what gets me through the day without breaking down in the middle of class in tears.

I walk into the school building, standing out from the other kids as I usually do: my bright, fancy clothes compared to their dark and raggedy clothes. I get the stares that I always get from the other kids, to which I just fake smile back at them. I got here before Katniss, which means that I'll be by myself for a little bit. I walk into the classroom and take my seat next to where Katniss usually sits. I take out my pencils and notebook and carefully write the date at the top of the page. _August 31__st_. The day before the Reaping.

Naturally, I'm scared for the Reaping. I know I shouldn't, because the odds are in my favor. My aunt, Maysilee Donner, had gone during the 50th and died. Logically, I shouldn't go because of that _and _because I'm the Mayor's daughter. If the Mayor's daughter went into the Games, it would probably create a huge uproar in the Capitol. Yeah, I probably wasn't going to go. But I'm still scared. What if Peeta has to go? Or Katniss? Or sweet little Prim? I couldn't even imagine what I would feel like if _he _went to the Games? I had to stop thinking about this before I worried myself to death.

In came Katniss, looking out of breath and her cheeks slightly pink. I could tell she had been hunting before school. I've tried time and time again to give Katniss food or money to buy food, but she always turns it down. I think she views it as some sort of charity for her, although she knows I don't think of her like some sort of charity case. She's just too stubborn to admit it or take anything from me.

She sat down next to me, not giving me a glance. I still smiled at her, and then looked down at my paper. I hope Katniss is fine in the Reaping tomorrow. She has Prim to take care of. If she left, what would happen to Prim? Or if she died? Prim would be heartbroken, never able to be happy again.

I was so caught up in my worrying about the Reaping that I didn't realize that class was over and it was time for lunch. Because it was the day before the Reaping, classes got let out after lunch, which I was thankful for. I'd rather be with Ruth and Peeta as much as I could during my potentially last day in District Twelve.

I walked outside to where the tables were; secretly hoping that someone would ask me to sit with them. But I was only greeted with the angry glares of people who resented me for the life that I was born into; my life of luxury compared to their lives of struggling to stay alive always separated me from them, and always made others ostracize me, leaving me with not many friends. I looked over to where Peeta was sitting at, and made eye contact with him. The smile that he had on his face as he was joking with his friends turned into a frown as he saw the pain that I had momentarily let show in my face. As I quickly realized my mistake, I put on my fake mask of happiness, knowing fully well that he knew the difference from my real happiness to what I just put on to please other people. He mouthed to me, "we need to talk after school", to which I nodded and walked over to an empty table, hoping that Katniss would come over and sit next to me.

I took out my lunch from the little bag that Ruth had decorated for me. Ruth had decorated it with little pictures and sayings to help cheer me up, as she knows that each year during Reaping time I'm always super stressed out about who was going to go and if I was going to go. I smiled at what she was trying to do to make me feel better. She had even packed me my favorite foods: savory chicken noodle soup and strawberry shortcake. I love strawberries, for a reason I don't know. I never hesitate to buy them from Katniss and Gale when they stop by my house. That's the one time that Katniss will actually accept money from me; when she's stopping by to give us some fruit or meat.

I look up from my lunch and find that it's almost over and Katniss still isn't here. She probably went back into the woods to go hunting again. It's fine. I've sat by myself during lunch far too many times before to be used to it. I scanned the tables to think about what it's going to be like without two of them with me when I find that his eyes are on me. Why would _he _be looking at me? Especially with that look on his face; he almost looked _sad _that I was sitting by myself. Why is he concerned with why I'm sitting by myself? I quickly avert my eyes back to my food, appetite gone. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, which I prayed would go away. I feel horrible for wasting food that anyone else in the District would gladly take, but nobody would take food from me. Maybe I can run it over to Prim before Katniss gets back… yes, that's what I'll do.

I quickly pack my lunch back into the bag, careful to make sure that everything on the bag is still able to be read. It's Prim's first Reaping, and I know she probably needs the reminder that she probably won't be picked more than I do.

I stand up, making sure to avoid all eye contact with anyone, and leave the schoolyard. It's not like anyone's going to notice or care that I left early. Maybe Peeta would, but he's busy having fun with his friends. I'm fine with that though; he's so nice to everyone that he deserves to have a little downtime with his friends.

I walk alone on a dirt path that leads into the Seam part of the District. Everywhere is eerily quiet; most likely because families are too busy spending time with each other, I think sourly to myself. As much as I try not to, it's hard to not envy other families in the District that all seem to care about each other. My family used to be perfect to me, until my mom got those headaches that so conveniently happened around the same time that my dad started to have to do more work things as the Mayor. I know it's not fair, my life being a much easier and luxurious life than those that live in the Seam or even in town, but it's hard to not want to have a family that loves you and cares about you.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't even hear the footsteps behind me that were getting louder and louder as they moved closer to me. In a panic, I brought Prim's lunch up to my chest and squeezed it, hoping that it was all just a bad dream. I've heard of what happens to pretty girls from town that wander around where they're not supposed to in the Seam; the thought terrifies me and I just sincerely hoped I was just hearing things. I increased my pace, only to find that the stranger behind me quickened their pace as well. My heart was beating faster and faster… I was so close to Prim and Katniss' house, I could possibly make it there and be safe.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to look at them, making me emit a little shriek of terror at who I would see.

"Gale?"

**A/N: And that's where I'm going to end it! So, I know that I've got the SYOT going on right now (don't worry, I won't abandon it :P), but I got really inspired to write a Gadge story. This one probably won't be updated as frequently, as I'm going to try and focus more on the SYOT and **_**then **_**focus more on this fanfic. But I need ideas for titles! Send in ideas to me please :) Hope you like it though!**


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